]]>Sketch Challenges are something else that is new over at Scrap Our Stash. Please come join us! I love to use sketches! Sometimes I follow them exactly and other times they are just more of a starting point. Get creative, you can rotate the sketch, rotate photos, add/remove photo and journaling spots or replace one with the other. Stash Buster: also add mixed alphabets to your layout in your title or as part of your journaling. This is our first sketch:

]]>Update 1/29/13: I am disappointed that Crafter Mania decided to not use my book as planned and never informed me. I spent many hours on this project and was not reimbursed as per our agreement. I was also looking forward to using my smashbook this year and still have not received it back as promised. I will not do business with them again and do not recommend them.

Update 2/15/13: Received my smashbook.

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I want to give a big shout out and thank you to Crafter Mania and EK Success for sending me this package to try out. Its a SMASHBOOK and a bunch of coordinating embellishments that go great together.

Some pretty awesome stuff, huh!?!

I had a lot of fun with this book. I used it to create a motivational To-Do 2013 Book. It contains ideas and goals for my scrapbooking, weight loss, family, and home life. I will be using the stamper to date things as they are completed throughout the year. There are SO many pages in this book and so many things that you can do with it! I think I will get another one and just SMASH in all the stuff that I have in one of my file drawers….ticket stubs, kid’s programs, etc. that didn’t make it in my scrapbooks or that I don’t have pictures for. It will be a great way to get it done.

I will share the entire book with you but I’m going to break it down into multiple posts because it is so awesomely huge! I will also say that this is the first Christmas gift I have done this year and it is a gift to myself! How awesome is that!

Here we go! Part 1 – Scrapbooking & Me Time.

I’ll start with the front cover which has a beautiful embossed design. Of course, I had to personalize mine a bit by adding some color and bling. I used colored pencils and Stickles. You could use anything you have on hand in your stash (markers, glitter glue, rhinestones, etc.)

Before:

After:

This is the inside cover. It’s pretty bare now and I like it that way but may add more to it throughout the year.

A cool first page and I’ve left it as is (unless you can notice where my toddler got a hold of my pen)

My reason for creating the book and motivational quotes. My favorite is: “Either you run the day or the day runs you.” (Jim Bohm) This is so true!

Some of my scrapbooking goals (room for more)

Scrapbooking and craft projects (I am always adding to this list)

Ways I like to spend time relaxing.

Quotes on making time for me.

Motivational quotes.

Be sure to come back and see the rest of my book over the next couple days.

I am pretty sure this paper was from a K & Company stack. I just love the bright colors and how easy it is to use for a quick and simply layout. I just added my picture, a CTMH Sparkle Flourish, and Kaiser Rhinestones. Done!

Bravo to me for using a punch! I don’t use them often but not I might have to more. I sure do like the Martha Stewart punches much better than the Fiskars ones I have. This is one of those blah layouts for me. I just don’t like it and not sure why. It’s not awful enough to redo so it counts as one more done…

I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun this was to make. It was something that I wanted to do but didn’t think I could realistically get it finished before the baby arrived. Thanks to the quick pages I chose I was able to finish it and I just love how it turned out. On the pre-designed pages, before adhering to the calendar, I used an exacto knife to trim around any extras that covered a photo mat – so that when I add pictures throughout the year I can slide my picture underneath and it will look better (like the fruit on the July page – I cut around where it overlapped the photo mat). Originally, I was going to stamp the months but after already adhering the pages (with embellishments) I no longer had a flat surface to stamp so I opted to use my Cricut instead. I plan to hang it in the nursery and have the older siblings help keep it updated with “baby’s firsts” information and photos. I am going to keep the calendar as is for a keepsake, but if I did this as a yearly thing with day-to-day activities, I would take the pages and put them in my scrapbook albums as finished pages at the end of the year.

Layout Challenge: #143 of 210 AND my wonderful mother reminded me that I completed about 15 layouts for her this fall at a retreat and feels that I should add those onto my layout count. I have to agree! So that brings me up to 158!

Embellish is defined as: to make beautiful, decorate. This is exactly what I have been doing with all my scrapbook organizers and tools lately. It makes my scrapbook room even more enjoyable and inspiring. These Making Memories desk organizers come in a plain white. They are nice as is but I have enjoyed making them my own. I bought one from Crop Chocolate and had trouble finding more after that. I thought I found a good deal on my additional ones and was disappointed. I learned that even though they advertise with the same picture and they are both MM, I should have bought the ones that were $40 and not $20. The first one I got is actually wood, solid, and heavy. The other ones I thought I found at a decent price are cheap cardboard/chipboard-like. They are very like-weight and will definitely not last as long. Christine wasn’t very happy with me that she had to trade with me so I could have the nice one but I made it up to her by decorating them. Now if Michael’s ever gets my set of drawers in again I will show you some other things I have done. Have a great day!

I started off using the Sunday sketch at 365 cards and this is what I ended up with. I wanted stitching around the edges but didn’t have the right thread. Then I started handstitching and that was just too much work! So I ended up with piercing around the border and snaps in the corners (to cover up where I started stitching. I was originally thinking to use pop dots on the flowers but the liquid glass added the dimension that I wanted.

This was such a fun card to make! I found the princess crown (by K&Company) on clearance at Walmart and I’ve been wanting to use it. It lights up! The frame is CTMH’s Flower Power Stickease (retired). I used my Liquid Glass (CTMH) to draw the swirls and add glitter (Martha Stewart carrara marble). Then I added the dark pink rhinestones (Kaisercraft) as a finishing touch. Now I just don’t know where this card will end up because it is perfect for a little girl I know but she JUST had a birthday. It might have to wait for next year to come around. Whatever happens I know the recipient will be a little girl and she will love it.

Products used: CTMH Heart of Winter Project Pack, CTMH Chocolate grosgrain ribbon, Cricut Accent Essentials, and button (unknown). I added details on the flower with a marker and I used a piercing tool to add details around the scallop border. (challenge=paper piercing)

Products used: CTMH Heart of Winter Project Pack, CTMH White Daisy Just Blooms, Making Memories Chocolate paint. I used the paint as the centers of the flowers – a great technique! (challenge=paint)

Products used: CTMH Heart of Winter Project Pack, clip and hemp (unknown). I poked a hole through the flower to attach the clip to it with the hemp. (challenge=binding)

Products used: CTMH Boom-Di-Ada Creative Basics papers, flowers from CTMH Heart of Winter Project Pack, CTMH Hollyhock ricrac, acrylic frame by Fancy Pants, CTMH Say It In Style stamp set, and Hampton Art glitter glue. The acrylic frame is actually two pieces. I used the glitter glue to stick them together and then I attached it to my project with Liquid Glass. Glitter glue was also used for the center of the flowers. (challenge=clear window)

I am thrilled with how this card turned out. I made it for someone very special in my life. It’s been a long time since I’ve made a square card and now I think I’m going to be making more! It’s a nice change. Papers are CTMH Heart of Winter Project Paper Pack, chipboard and pearls are from K&Company. The chipboard was one piece that I cut to make two and I added a pearl to the flower. I cut the scallop square with my Accent Essentials Cricut cartridge.

I absolutely love how these frames turned out and they are just what I wanted to display in my scrapbook room. I made one for each of my daughter’s with some of my favorite pictures of them. They each helped choose the paper for their frame. The frames have an easel on the back and a hook for hanging. I have mine hung because I need all the extra desk space I can get in my scrapbook room. They do hang out a bit from the wall because of the easel. The frames are Bare Elements by Creative Imagination and I can’t wait to try more of their products.

For Christine’s frame, I used Making Memories acrylic paint (chocolate) and painted the edges of the frame (under the paper is white, no need to waste). Next I cut the patterned paper to fit the frame, marked the center square on the back and used an exacto knife to cut out the center. This takes a bit of measuring. The paper is Die Cuts With a View from the Glitter Stack. It adds a lot of sparkle and dimension on it’s own, which was perfect for this project. Next, I adhered the paper and her name. I used Mod Podge (I prefer matte) as my adhesive and also added a coat to the top to protect it. Note: When using Mod Podge, apply in thin coats and be sure to let the bottom coat (under your paper) dry before applying a coat overtop. The letters are Silver Glitter Alphabet Chipboard by K&Co. The glitter was coming off some of the letters so I sealed them with a layer of Mod Podge and it worked like magic. I painted the chipboard flourish with MM paint (capri) and added a couple coats of MM Specialty Glaze – Glitter. It’s hard to see from the photo but it adds a nice extra touch. I finished it off with the flowers using silver brads in the center and adhering with glue dots.

For Steph’s frame I left the outside white, which is how it comes. This eliminated the first step of painting. The paper again is DCWV and I painted the flourish using MM (sky) paint and the glitter glaze. I wish I knew what these chipboard letters are because the glitter on them is sealed very well and I really like them. If you recognize them please let me know. The brad in the center of the flower is a Bazzill Really Big Brad. I rubbed it on a glue pad and then sprinkled glitter over it. After that was dry I added a coat of Mod Podge overtop to seal it.